November 27, 2006One to be proud of
Alan's smile pretty much says it all in this picture. He is clearly proud of his first deer, which he should be. The two were hunting together from an elevated stand in the woods on Quarles' place near Buchanan that morning when they spotted this buck in the distance. It took a while for it to get close enough for a shot, giving Alan plenty of time to get a feel for the nerve-wracking excitement that draws so many of us to the sport of deer hunting. As we head into the second week of the general firearms season I can tell that things are slowing down. There are still enough big bucks running around out there to keep things interesting. But, like those bucks, a lot of hunters have been pushing it for several weeks and I think folks are starting to get tired. Not to mention they're having to go back to work. I hunted Saturday in Botetourt County. About 8:30 a.m. I blew a chance when I let a doe sneak in from behind me. I couldn't hear her because the woods were so damp from dew. About two hours later I had a decent 2 1/2-year-old 8-pointer walk by at about 50 yards but I passed on him. That was it for a while so I took a midday break for lunch before getting back out there. The afternoon was quiet, too, but the weather was so nice it was hard to complain. Deer finally started moving about 4 p.m. I had a spike and a fawn past right by my stand, and about a half-dozen does about 80 yards away in an area too thick for a shot. Finally, about 5 p.m., I had two does come in and I anchored the larger of the two with a neck shot from my .280 at a range of just 20 yards. I know neck shots can be risky but at that range I'll make an exception. With the warm weather we're expecting early this week I think things will probably be really quiet, but I expect there will be a final peak in hunting pressure Saturday. November 22, 2006A fitting reward
November 20, 2006Change of pace
Julie and friends were hoping to catch one of the big bluefin tuna that are in the area but the trips produced just one hook-up and the fish pulled off. Fishing around the Triangle wreck they managed to catch a number of big bluefish, flounder and sea bass. In a report toward the end of last weekJulie reported that the great speckled trout fishing is continuing in the lower Chesapeake Bay. A few 40-pound stripers have been caught, but the best is yet to come. You can find Julie's current fishing report, along with shots of other catches, on her site at www.drjball.com. Suburban monster
I've heard of a number of good deer going down the past few days, which is not surprising considering that the opening of rifle season means this is when hunting pressure is at its peak. I got out for a quick hunt Friday afternoon in Franklin County with my buddy Freddy McGuire, who was hoping to get some video footage of me shooting a doe with my bow. We didn't see any deer, but for the second hunt in a row my action was interupted by a stray dog. When the dog trotted under our stand Freddy hissed "Hey!" The dog look up, saw us, and took off like it had been peppered with bird shot. It was pretty funny. Saturday afternoon I met my good friend Bobby Hogan in Botetourt County. Bobby had killed a heavy eight-pointer Friday so before we hunted I took some pictures. (I'll post one here in the next day or so.) We hunted together. The plan was for him to shoot a doe if given a chance, while I would try to kill any mature buck that showed up. Whoever wasn't shooting the gun would try to video the action. Early on we had a doe come in to 35 yards but whenever I had clear view Bobby didn't, and vice versa. The doe finally winded us and bolted. It gave us more appreciation for how tough it is to kill a deer on video when hunting in the woods. Not much later we had a mature buck show up. I was concentrating on the camera's viewfinder so couldn't see it too well, but I could see sweeping main beams. I asked Bobby if it was a shooter and he said, "No." The deer turned out to have only three points -- the main beams and one brow tine. It wasn't like the other tines had been broken off. It was just a genetically inferior deer, apparently. It really needed to be removed from the gene pool, so to speak, but Bobby's got only one buck tag left. I have two but still wasn't willing to burn one on that deer. I would have loved to hunt today but office work beckoned. Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning I'll be tagging along with a father and his daughter, who is hoping to kill her first deer. November 17, 2006Think he was rutting?
One other thing about Richie's story really caught my attention. He was discussing his dilemma about where to put a stand in a promising area. He ended up improvising, and it paid off. The point is, if you find a good spot, figure out a way to hunt it. Here's what he did, in his words: "I had not hunted this particular part of our farm very hard in the past several years. There have been some nice bucks killed there so I know the travel routes were used by the bucks. I tried to find what I thought would be a good spot during the upcoming rut but I just could not feel good about anything that I had tried. I was looking around several days and I finally happened upon a spot that had several good rubbed trees. I was looking for a place to use my climbing stand among some oaks. I found a great looking spot but I just couldn't find the right tree. What I did find was three oaks that had grown together out of one trunk and that looked very inviting. What I decided to do was pretty unconventional. I went and got a climbing stick and then I used a ratchet strap to secure my climbing platform in place as a fixed position stand. I just would have to raise and lower my seat platform as needed to get into and out of the stand. The climbing stand seat is very adjustable and allows me the comfort to sit all day if I want to." His instincts were right. In addition to the buck, he also killed a nice doe out of the stand. I haven't hunted since Tuesday evening. I hoped to hunt this morning but decided to work to try to free up some time early next week, when the weather looks really good (cold). I am going to get out for a short hunt this afternoon with my friend Freddy McGuire. I've got to watch my kids but Freddy's wife, Amy, has agreed to watch them -- they'll play with their daughter -- so Freddy and I can slip out for a couple of hours. Last time we teamed up I got video of Freddy killing a doe and an eight-pointer. This time he's agreed to carry the camera. However, he's also taking along his muzzleloader. So if we see a good buck but it doesn't look like I'll get a bow shot, he'll try to shoot it with his muzzleloader. It may be an ambitious plan but it's worth a try. November 15, 2006Breeding peak?
In my previous entry I wondered if the chase was on. As I think about it more, I actually wonder if the chase is actually over. Here's the deal. Embryonic data has shown that the peak of Virginia's whitetail breeding season is the middle of November. That's today. That buck in the previous entry was actually seen breeding a doe before David Boush was able to get a shot. The past few days the bucks my friends and I have been seeing haven't really been chasing does. That made me wonder if the rut was still getting rolling. But we also weren't seeing as many bucks as during the first week of November. So, what I think is happening is a bunch of bucks are holed up with does in tight cover. The bucks we're seeing are between girlfriends, so to speak. Maybe they're not running around because they're already worn out. This could bode well for next week, the first week of the general firearms season. As more does get bred this week, the supply of unbred does will diminish. So the bucks may have to start working harder again. I don't know if this is right. But it makes sense, doesn't it? I hunted for about two hours yesterday evening and saw only one deer, a doe. And it was being chased by a stray dog. I'm not hunting today or tomorrow, which is OK considering the rain we're expecting. I'm going to try to hit it Friday. November 14, 2006Is the chase on?
Bad luck bulls
The tags are good for cow elk only, of course, so that's what Greg was looking for this past Saturday when he headed out to the ranch. Here's what he saw when he got to his hunting area. The five big bulls were within easy range of Greg's high-powered rifle. Of course Greg didn't see a single cow all day. Greg's rancher buddy, who gave him the tag, has a bull tag. He could be sitting pretty when his season opens this weekend. November 9, 2006November lull?
Saturday was a good day. I hunted that morning and saw good buck movement. A buddy hunted the same property that afternoon and had a nice 8-pointer at 10 yards but couldn't get a shot with his bow. Since then things seem to have gotten pretty quiet. That rain early in the week certainly didn't help, at least from a hunting pressure standpoint. I'm sure that kept a bunch of hunters out of the woods. And now the temperature feels more like September. I rode my bike to work this morning wearing shorts and a T-shirt. When it's this warm I don't think deer move much during the middle of the day, even though the pre-rut is in full swing. But they are moving early and late. A co-worker said he saw a nice buck in a field this morning at 7:15 a.m. I had hoped to hunt some today and tomorrow but may just stick with work so I can get ahead, which should free up more time next week. From the looks of the forecast, the cold front that should hit this weekend will bring some more reasonable hunting weather into the area by Monday. I'm taking that day off and plan to sit all day. I'll be hunting a place where the landowner wants us to take some does but I don't think I'll be shooting a doe. It just seems like it could be a great day to see a good buck. November 6, 2006Last-minute look
The bottom line is my great season continues, which is especially sweet after last year's tough autumn. I shot this nice doe at 10:10 a.m. Saturday on private land in Bedford County, after a pretty memorable morning on the stand. November 3, 2006A teaser
I'm not going to give away too many details, as it's the subject for my Sunday column in The Roanoke Times. I will say that we saw great deer movement. Bucks weren't really chasing does, but they were following them. So the pre-rut is in full swing. I will also say that the guy holding the buck in this picture didn't shoot the buck, at least not with a bow. I was armed only with a video camera. If you want to know more, be sure to check out my column Sunday morning. If you are reading this on Friday, turn off your computer and get out there. This would be a great day to be in the woods if you can swing it. I worked this morning and have decided to not hunt this afternoon so I can spend some time with my visiting mom and my kids. I do have a stand I need to pull from an area I don't plan to hunt any more this season so I may haul them out with me. It seems fitting as I had the kids with me when I hung the thing, and this morning one of them asked me when we were going to go move deer stands. I plan to hunt tomorrow morning and afternoon in Bedford County. I expect I'll hear lots of muzzleloader shots. I'm sticking with the bow for the time being. November 2, 2006SkunkedAfter a long lay-off I finally got back into the woods yesterday. And I came out at dark with my first skunk of the year. Other than a flash of a white tail that I spotted on the walk in -- and that doesn't count -- I didn't see a deer. On my previous three hunts this season I saw deer every time, and twice had them in bow range. But yesterday was really warm which I'm sure affected deer movement. I'm on my way back out there and I think today should be better. It's a little windy, but at least it's cool. November 1, 2006On the move
Interpreting the shot is easy. Even though it's been a little warm, the pre-rut is rolling and bucks are moving during daylight. I'm planning to head out this afternoon for what will be my first hunt since the evening of Oct. 13. A friend warned me not to get lazy after my opening day buck, and I guess I have. But I also had some other family and work obligations that didn't help. I wish it weren't so warm, but I've seen some nice bucks moving on warm early-November evenings. I also plan to be out there tomorrow afternoon, all day Friday, and Saturday. We're supposed to get some cold weather so I think Thursday through Saturday could be awesome. I bet a bunch of big bucks go down Saturday, opening day of the early muzzleloader season East of the Blue Ridge.
|
About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism. After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters. .....Advertisement.....
|
...Advertisement...
...Advertisement...
